As a former dancer, Ive always tried to imagine which sport ballet might be comparable to, and the most I have been able to come up with is the marathon -- if the marathon required runners to be in character, with full makeup and smiling the entire time. Oh, and en pointe.And by en pointe, I dont mean perfect in the sense that my teenagers use the phrase today. Nope, by en pointe, I mean it in the true French sense of the word -- standing on the tips of your toes, separated from the floor by the tiniest barrier of fabric, cardboard and glue. Those pink, satiny pointe shoes -- and hours upon hours of blood, sweat and tears -- are what separate the women in Thursday night Zumba class from athletes like American Ballet Theatres Misty Copeland.?Anyone can go to a sporting goods store and buy Nike Zoom Lebron Soldier 10s sneakers, and anyone go online and buy Capezio Aria pointe shoes. And that is exactly what Vogue Espana did for a fashion shoot with Kendall Jenner. But owning Lebrons sneakers wont make you an NBA player. And neither will pointe shoes -- voila! -- magically transform you into Wendy Whelan.Reality-star-turned-model Kendall Jenner is a beautiful young woman. At 5-feet-10? and 119 pounds, the 20-year-old slides into haute couture with ease and is an accomplished runway model. And no one could call her modeling skills into question.But those feet! They are like dead fish. They are. Look at them in the Vogue shoot. They just dangle there. In ballet, there is a term for this: the sickled foot, and the dreaded dead fish comment is something ballet teachers say to their students to remind them to point, point, point their feet.Dancers oftentimes resort to medieval torture devices to improve their arches. Dont believe me? Google ballet feet stretcher. Ill wait. I have friends who short-sheet their beds and wedge their pointed feet tight between two sheets and sleep that way to improve their arches. Instagram, which has proved to be the perfect forum for ballet photos, has sparked a whole new movement in dance and is flush with photos and videos of dancers and their footwork. My favorite is Cuban ballerina?Dayesi Torriente Llanes, now a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. ?I have seen entire ballet auditions go south based on the look of feet alone. I swear my mother, who studied under George Balanchine (he co-founded the New York City Ballet) at the School of American Ballet and danced with the San Francisco and Pennsylvania Ballet companies, worked at pointing my feet while I was still in my crib. So poor Jenner and her dead-fish feet incurred the wrath of every ballerina from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow?to the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle last week.She had to turn off the comments on her Instagram feed, and her vastly popular account (she has 66.3 million followers) is part of what made her so attractive to Vogue in the first place. Dance Magazine had Ballet West soloist Allison DeBona write an opinion piece about Jenners unfortunate attempt to stand up in pointe shoes after DeBonas Facebook post reacting to the Vogue Espana?photos went viral.DeBona, herself a stunning dancer, had just recently written her heartfelt Facebook commentary?faulting Vogue for exploiting Jenner by posing her as a ballerina.She noted:Ballerinas across the globe are upset that Vogue Spain hired Kendell (sic) Jenner to look like a ballerina in a video shoot. Well, Vogue Italia hired me to look like a ballerina in a video shoot. Some people originally commented on my video about how I was selling out by being too sexual. I was playing a role just like Kendell, except I have technique.There were plenty of comments from dancers who felt that Vogue Espana?should have used a real ballerina and had no business putting Jenner in pointe shoes and having her dance around suggestively in leotards and leg warmers. I agree. The publication is usually pretty good with the ballet accuracy, but shame on them and shame on Jenners modeling agent, whomever that might be, for not trying harder for authenticity.There were a million ways around it: Use a real ballerina for the action and then pose Jenner in the clothes. Or just pick another theme entirely -- such as horseback riding, ATVing, dirt biking, surfing or hiking, which Jenner herself recently listed as her hobbies.One thing I know for sure. Jenners unwitting participation in the ballet shoot fiasco of 2016 legitimizes the dance, if anything, because it once again shows haters that ballet is not just running around like a child just not caring. It is impossibly hard work. Kendall Jenner might have more money and fame than God, but shes not a ballerina. ?ESPN deputy editor Gabrielle Paese is a reformed ballerina who got her start with Maria Vegh at Harkness Ballet. She went on to attend the Pennsylvania Governors School for the Arts and train under the late Merce Cunningham. ? Custom Nike Boston Red Sox Jerseys . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/custom-nike-milwaukee-brewers-jerseys/ . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Custom Nike Colorado Rockies Jerseys . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. Custom Nike Oakland Athletics Jerseys .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. LOS ANGELES -- Nearly seven months after the Los Angeles Rams placed their future on the shoulders of Jared Goff, the No. 1 draft pick finally makes his NFL debut Sunday.Ndamukong Suh, Cameron Wake and the Miami Dolphins cant wait to welcome him to the league.Goff will take his first NFL snap at the Coliseum, where frustrated fans chanted the rookie quarterbacks name two weeks ago during another dismal offensive performance by their Rams (4-5).With their playoff hopes in danger of evaporating despite last weeks win over the Jets, the Rams have made the inevitable move.I learned a lot about how the league works, Goff said. How Sundays work, how the practice week works, how you work in the classroom and everything in between, Ive learned. Im thankful for everything that Ive gathered over the last however many weeks its been, but at the same time, I think its time. I think Im ready to move forward and play.Goff gets no easy task for his first start: The Dolphins (5-4) are on their first four-game winning streak since 2008, capped by last weekends victory at San Diego.They spent the past week in a minicamp of sorts on the California coast, taking a week away from Florida for bonding and preparation.Miami has one of the NFLs least effective pass defenses, ranking 28th in the league entering the weekend.But the Dolphins also have 22 sacks already this season, including 12 during their winning streak with a pass rush led by the fearsome Suh and Wake.Its just another quarterback, Suh said of facing Goff. Hopefully, Im assuming theyre going to run the same offense, but you never know. Well be ready for all things thrown at us.Scouting Goff is tough for the Dolphins because his three seasons in the Bear Raid spread offense in Berkeley have little resemblance to anything hell do Sunday.But Goff played for the Rams in the preseason, and offensive coordinator Rob Boras has said the Rams wont alter their offense extensively to make the change from Case Keenum to Goff. That means Miami will face much the same schemes that have left Los Angeles 31st in total offense and last in the league in scoring.Our ability to at least tell our players (about Goffs) strengths and weakness is very limited, Dolphins coach Adam Gase said.We have to be very sharp within the game of trying to figure out what they could possibly lean on, or go to that he does really well, and maybe try to figuree out what possibly could give him problems.ddddddddddddHere are more things to watch when the Dolphins play in Los Angeles for the first time since 1988:RUNNING STOP: Goffs debut will be a bit more difficult because the Rams still cant run the ball nine games into the season. Todd Gurley and his offensive line are 29th in the league in rushing offense, and the running backs 64 yards last week against the Jets were the most he has compiled in a month. Whats more, Miami has the NFLs sixth-ranked rushing defense.SHUFFLED LINE: The Dolphins are 0-2 this season without Branden Albert, and hell be absent again Sunday because of a dislocated left wrist. That means Miami must shuffle its line while facing a defense ranked sixth in the NFL.We have a big test ahead of us, especially with this front, Gase said. Its going to be a challenge, considering weve played four teams that have really good fronts, and this might be the best one that were about to face.Albert was sidelined earlier by an illness and ankle injury. Hell be replaced by first-round draft pick Laremy Tunsil, who will move from left guard to tackle, his position in college.When he bumps out to left tackle, thats like riding a bike for him, Gase said.FULL STOP: The Rams are staying on the edge of playoff contention with another dominant season from the defense led by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, linebacker Alec Ogletree and cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Los Angeles has held its past three opponents under 18 points, and two of its three wins have come without an offensive touchdown by the Rams.HANGING ONTO THE BALL: The Dolphins offense hasnt committed a turnover during the winning streak, and Tannehill has thrown 109 passes without an interception in the past four games.Gase praised Tannehills decision-making, along with cohesion he has developed with the receiving group.We really feel like were in a decent groove as far as what were doing from week to week, Gase said.Tannehill threw seven interceptions in the first five games, four of them losses. Eliminating turnovers has helped the Dolphins score at least 27 points in every game during the winning streak. They reached that total only twice all of last season.---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '